History of Sundials Quest
Released: Unkown Retired: Unkown Prizes Quest Q&A 1. unkown 2. ''The sun shining on the gnomon, which is pronounced no-men, causes a shadow to appear. When the shadow falls on the appropriate line on the base, it displays the time. The placement of the lines on the ground are dependent upon the particular location of the sundial, and vary according to a number of factors such as the latitude of the sundial. Go to Stonehenge in Medieval Age and say, "A shadow can tell time!" 3. Around 2500-2000 BC, the Egyptians and Babylonians made sundials by building obelisks. These tapering four-sided monuments enabled the people to divide the day into two parts. Which two parts? : a. 'Morning and Afternoon' : b. Night and Day : c. Dawn and Dusk : d. Noon and Midnight 4. The Egyptians could determine not only noon, but also the shortest and longest days of the year. They would place markers around the obelisk base to indicate these time periods. Additional markers would subdivide the day into even smaller increments. The biggest drawback to these sun clocks was that they were not movable. Go to the Wild Woods in Western Age and say, "Pardon me, do you have the time?" 5. As time went by, the Egyptians built more precise sundials. One of the oldest surviving sundials dates from approximately 800 BC. This Egyptian shadow clock was composed of a straight base where a scale of six time divisions was inscribed and had a raised crosspiece at one end. Of what material was this ancient sundial made? : a. Oolatic Hematite : b. 'Green Schist' : c. Pink Granite : d. Black Marble 6. The base was oriented in an east-west direction. The crosspiece was at the east end in the morning and the west end in the afternoon. The shadow cast by the crosspiece onto the base told the time. Go to the Galactic Trading Post in Space and say: "There is no time to lose!" 7. Ancient writings from around 300 BC first describe a sundial. The writer, Berossus, a Babylonian priest, described a sundial as a cubical block. A half-sphere had been cut into the block and at the center, a small bead was placed. The shadow of the bead moved in an arc which had been subdivided into twelve equal sections. Depending upon the season of the year, the length of the day varies. In addition, the length of the hours also changes. What were these early variable hours called? : a. Variational Hours : b. Fluctuating Hours : c. 'Temporary Hours' : d. Dependant Hours 8. It was not until around 1300 AD, when mechanical type clocks were developed that an hour not dependent upon daylight was decided upon. These hours were called "Equal hours." Go to the waterfall in Australia and say: "Don't count every hour in the day, make every hour in the day count." 9. Between 250 BC and 100 AD, the Greeks make a number of advancements in the construction of sundials. Using geometry, they develop complex sundials. An interesting advancement to the sundial was a device used by Ptolemy. The device projected shadows geometrically onto planes which were slanted at various angles relative to the horizontal plane. What was this device called? : a. Horologion : b. Hemicyclium : c. Armillary Sphere : d. 'Analemma''' 9. Around 100 BC, The Tower of the Winds was built in Athens. The amazing octagonal shaped tower included a combination of sundials, a water clock and a wind direction vane. The sundials faced different cardinal compass points. Later, it was discovered that a slanting object's shadow was a more accurate timekeeper than a shadow cast by a vertical object because of the angle of the earth's axis. Go to the Victorian House in the Victorian Age and say: "Life is all about timing!" press continue to finish the quest